Firestone
by wishbone95
Summary: Utopias were fantasy. The powerful ruled the world and the weak became their prey. It was the unchallenged norm of nature that all living organisms lived by. Magnolia Academy was known for its integrity and excellence but everything had to fall at some point, especially after the strange appearance of two mysterious girls. Jerza, Mirxaus, Gale, Gruvia
1. Chapter 1

There are two kinds of people in this world- those who fight and those who survive. This was true of every single country, continent, and community of human beings. It was a law of nature that all animals were forced to obey. Those were the dictated laws of nature.

The Kingdom of Fiore was a relatively large kingdom. In the continent of Ishgar- a peninsula that was surrounded by scattered isles of varied sizes, each one a separate and distinguished country. The Kingdom of Fiore itself occupied the western half of the peninsula and had several smaller kingdoms and autonomous countries surrounding it including the countries of Isvan, Caelum, Sin and the great Pentgrade Kingdom- the military superpower that occupied much of the peninsula. Fiore was mostly on good terms with most of its neighboring states and as a result of that, the prominent children of these countries were often sent for their education to Fiore, well renowned for its high intellectual prowess. However, this was not the entirety of the world. The rest of the continents were unknown and forgotten. As a result of this, the rest of the planet was collectively known as the "Lost World". Little or nothing was known about the people or the lifestyles of these continents. The only source of knowledge and insight to them was through the large amount of slaves that were brought to the continent of Ishgar. However, the information was inaccurate and could not be relied upon by scholars who refused to be educated by the uneducated and the "wild".

Magnolia was one of the fastest growing cities of the Kingdom of Fiore. It had started out as a simple port city and today, was the home to the rich and famous of Fiore. Therefore, it was only natural that it would have the 'elite' schools- private institutions specifically catering to the needs of Fiore's finest. Such institutions were not rare across Fiore, especially in Magnolia. One of them happened to be Magnolia Academy, one of the best ranked academic institutions of the Kingdom and home to the infamous 'Fairy Tail Wizards'- their sporting teams that happened to be of a national ranking in Basketball, Football, Swimming and Fencing to name a few. It was a highly selective institution and therefore, highly prestigious. Located in the heart of Magnolia, it represented the city in the best possible light- it stood for traditional cultural values as well as modern progress.


	2. Chapter 2

It would seem to be an ordinary day. Excited giggles and laughter erupted from the hallways of the slowly crowding school building. Students of various shapes and sizes slowly began to gather into their classrooms after the long weekend break.

"So it was great," spoke a salmon haired boy with a wide grin, walking beside a curvy blonde haired girl.

"Sounds like it… but Natsu, I really think you should at least attempt to study a little more. Aquarius isn't the nicest you know," she stated, shuddering slightly as a tall, dark haired boy let out a loud laugh beside her.

"Oh come on Lucy, you know she just hates you right?" he asked as Natsu burst into laughter and within seconds, both boys were on their knees, kneeling over in laughter as Lucy began to scream at them to stop, kicking both of them repeatedly.

Yes, this was the ideal morning in many ways. It was always this lively, and often more. Although rules did exist, as long as nothing serious happened, a lot of it was overlooked by the management. It was really quite liberal. As a result of that, the students were actually one of the most satisfied students in Fiore and were renowned for their independence.

As minutes passed by, students finally began to settle down in their classrooms. Since it was a fairly small school, every Friday students would be required to meet in the amphitheater before going to their classrooms. As a result of it, slowly, the student body made their way to their required location. The amphitheater itself was a large room with adequate number of seats to accommodate the student body. On the wooden stage, Principal Makarov would begin with announcing the week's announcements and would introduce any new students to the student body.

Inside the room, loud squeals erupted spontaneously as the door creaked open. This usually meant only one thing- the three had arrived. Jellal Fernandez, Laxus Dreyer and Gajeel Redfox w ere undoubtedly popular with the students of the academy. All three of them were quite well off and were known throughout Fiore for their various achievements.

Jellal was the heir to the Fernandez Cooperation- the largest manufacturing business in Fiore and was quite well renowned for his keen business sense. As a result of this, he had invested in several companies over the past few years, turning enormous profits for his company although he was not legally permitted to work there as of now. He was also the student council president, and was well known for his perfect GPA and wide range of extra-curricular. He was an internationally ranked Fencing champion and was highly skilled at several martial arts. In addition to this, he was an avid gamer.

Therefore, he was your classic over-achiever. Laxus Dreyer was the complete opposite- he was a notorious player who used and threw girls whenever he liked. As the heir to the Noble House of Dreyer, he was the poster child of excessive power and wealth and was often on the other side of the law. Regardless of this, he was undoubtedly smart and had one of the highest academic scores of the school and was the captain of the basketball team in addition to being a nationally ranked Judo champion. In fact, he had quite a loyal following dedicated to worshiping him known as the 'Thunder God Tribe' in addition to his wide following with the female sex. He also was the grandson of Principal Makarov but never openly spoke of it of course and well, it was better not to ask why.

Gajeel Redfox was unlike his other two friends was a well-known juvenile criminal. Before joining Magnolia, he was a part of Phantom Lord- one of the most notorious gangs in Fiore along with his cousin Juvia. Both were well known for their ruthlessness and sheer physical strength. However, when both of them left, they had made it clear that they would not return to that lifestyle. Therefore, when he joined Magnolia, Laxus and Jellal were only the two people who actually were willing to speak to him and Juvia as individuals, prompting a close friendship between the three boys and Juvia of course. He soon realized that he was quite athletic and became a renowned football player as well as the captain of the football team.

Therefore, it was not uncommon for women to swoon over the three of them. It was really a mundane experience. As a result of that, other students who were not totally enamored by them slowly began to take their seats, awaiting Principal Makarov to begin his announcements. Within a few minutes, he did just that as students had finally begun to settle down. After all, although he was a small old man with a balding head, he definitely was not one to be taunted, regardless of his constantly joyful and cheery appearance.

As he began to talk, mentioning various achievements of students in Magnolia. However, today he would introduce two new students as well. He motioned for the two students to come to the stage and introduce themselves, prompting the two girls to do so. As soon as they stepped out of the curtains, the school was instantly silenced- something that had almost never happened before. After all, everyone was curious and they had every right to be. The two girls were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. Both were tall, athletic, and slender and were ethereally beautiful from every angle. One had long striking scarlet hair that cascaded to her waist and the other, slightly shorter had enchanting platinum blonde hair of about the same length. Both their faces were absolutely expressionless as Makarov introduced both of them, announcing their class and their class teachers causing students to explode into whispers among each other. After this, the students were dismissed and allowed to return to their class rooms.

\- x -

"I can't believe I'm wearing this shit," the platinum blonde whispered to her scarlet haired friend with a frown etched across her face as they navigated their way through a sea of overly curious students.

"Me neither. I don't think I signed up for this," she whispered back, her face absolutely stoic.

"Can't believe that we got stuck with this shit. Have I ever mentioned that I don't like such places?" she asked as the scarlet haired woman allowed a smirk to crack across her lips.

"Of course you have and for the record Mira, it's not like I love them. I'd rather be skinned alive than socialize sheltered, spoiled brats like them," she whispered as her friend mirrored her smirk.

"As would I Er," she agreed as she pushed the classroom door opened, ignoring the existing students promptly as both walked towards the back of the classroom, close to the windows.

"Well, hopefully this day gets over soon," Erza commented as Mira simply nodded in silence, sitting down by the window.

\- x -

As they day progressed at an alarmingly slow rate, lunch break soon arrived, promoting socialization. Ignoring the evidently antisocial vibes the two new girls were radiating, Natsu coolly walked over with a wide grin in an attempt to speak to them.

"Hey guys. I'm Natsu Draganeel and I like food, fire, food of any kind, cats and I like annoying Lucy. Nice to meet you guys. Where are you guys from?" he questioned curiously as both girls simply raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him.

All day, they had purposely distanced themselves in order not to speak to people like him- overly friendly, optimistic, and loud and the personification of annoying in general. It had worked until this moment as all students had left them alone. The only thing that had annoyed them was the high concentration of females crowding around three boys in class. They were loud and their perfume was nauseating to be honest, like their makeup-caked faces. But as long as they didn't engage in conversation, Mira and Erza were okay with it to be honest. But boys like him on the other hand, that was what annoyed them, especially because every single eye in the class seemed to be watching them now.

Therefore, allowing a sigh to escape her lips, Erza stood up, walking by Natsu as Mira did the same. Both girls left the boy standing confused and a little offended. As they left, the entire class once again erupted into whispers. After all, they were regarded as stuck up, not that both of them cared particularly.


	3. Chapter 3

The roof of the school building was pretty much a restricted area. It was the unofficial hangout spot for Jellal, Laxus, Gajeel and a few select individuals they considered as their friends. Of course, it wasn't as if other students were not allowed on the roof. After all, Magnolia Academy did not believe in segregation, discrimination and anything synonymous to those words. Students were often free to do whatever they liked as long as it wasn't against the law. When that line was crossed, Principal Makarov transformed from a cheerful old man to somewhat of a terrifying giant filled with rage and remained in that state until he was satisfied. Therefore, few dared to venture on that side.

Having established the Academy's boundless freedom for the students, social norms did exist. The student body was fragmented into several small groups depending upon common interests, personalities and other similar factors. Each one of these little groups had their own designated 'spot' on the grounds of the campus. Other groups usually didn't venture into these designated spots allowing these clique-like structures to co-exist with one another. This was the reason as to why no students generally came to the roof, especially during the lunch break. Even if it was students from one of their clubs or the student council, the appropriate action would be to call first and then show up if it was absolutely necessary to do so. It was an unspoken rule- a norm that simply couldn't be broken.

While the roof was known to be the territory of Laxus, Jellal and Gajeel, they did allow certain other people to share it with them. Of course, the 'other people' in question were two girls- Levy McGarden and Juvia Lockser.

Juvia was a tall, slender girl with hauntingly pale skin which made her sapphire blue eyes seem brighter in comparison. Born originally with ink-black hair much like her cousin, Juvia dyed her hair a few shades lighter than her eyes in her early teenage years, drawing more attention to her eyes. Both Juvia and Gajeel had a rough past that neither one of them is comfortable to speak about. Therefore, not many dare to bring it up. Like him, she was a distinguished member of Phantom Lord- one of the most notorious gangs in the country and severed her ties with them when she joined Magnolia Academy with Gajeel. However, wanting to explore herself, she decided to keep her distance from her cousin. That soon ended as she was met with severe bullying and harassment from other students, particularly the self-proclaimed "fan club" of a certain Gray Fullbuster. The girls teased her for her pessimistic nature and for her strange 'foreigner-like' appearance which ended with several dramatic clashes between Juvia and the girls. Therefore, Principal Makarov had recommended that she spend more time with Laxus and Jellal, as Gajeel was doing in order to reduce her incidents. Miraculously, this did work as both boys had readily accepted her along with Gajeel. The minute she began to spend more visible time with them, the other students had kept their distance from her out of fear, allowing her to be more optimistic in nature. Of course, this hardly meant that she kept her distance from Gray. No, if anything she began to pseudo-stalk him to proclaim her 'undying love' to the boy, much to his and his fan's annoyance.

Levy McGarden on the other hand, was petite and slender unlike Juvia. However, both had the same blue hair. In Levy's case though, the blue hair was the product of a dare in middle school which she surprisingly did like the idea of. But unlike Juvia again, Levy mostly kept her hair tied up with a colorful bandana. She spent her entire life in the Academy was on fairly good terms with almost everyone, especially Lucy Heartfilia. Unlike most students, Levy was not from a distinguished family. She was a normal resident of Magnolia who was able to survive in Magnolia Academy due to her incredibly high grades.

Levy was and still is quite deserving of the title of "bookworm" as she is almost never seen without a book. Extremely fond of reading, Levy's academic scores are one of the highest in Fiore and was widely accepted as one of the smartest students of the academy. As a result of this, she was the undivided favorite of several teachers of Fiore. Therefore, it was no surprise when Principal Makarov assigned her to tutor Gajeel Redfox, the notorious bully who had recently transferred into the academy to help him to pass his subjects. Oddly enough, both of them became quite close to each other and she convinced him to stop bullying and preying on the weak, restoring peace within the students of the academy. Therefore, when Gajeel became close to Jellal and Laxus, she was instantly accepted into their group as she was almost always with him to help him academically. Of course, she was surprised to find both the boys to be quite intellectual, especially Jellal allowing both of them to bond over books often.

"Juvia thinks that a school trip would be a good idea to relax," Juvia began as hearts slowly replaced her eyes as she continued.

"and Juvia would be able to spend time with Gray-sama without her love rivals and-" she continued excitedly as Laxus rolled his eyes bluntly.

"I don't know why you like that stripper. All he can do is strip and swim anyways. He probably stripped his brains out by now," he commented dryly as Gajeel flashed him an amused smirk.

Jellal on the other hand, rolled his eyes at the reactions of his friends in an attempt to defend Juvia.

"I think it's nice. Gray is nice enough and besides, it's good to be in love like you are. It's youthful," he commented as both Laxus and Gajeel glanced at each other for a second before erupting into simultaneous laughter.

"Yeah, **love** is good, not stalking the stripper," Gajeel commented between laughing as Juvia glared at him.

"God you sound like an old man," came a feminine voice of a petite blue haired girl, holding a thick book in her left hand as she sat down beside Gajeel, fuelling the boys and Juvia to erupt into laughter again.

"I don't sound like an old man. I'm just enlightened okay?" he responded, defending himself dryly.

"That's what an old man would say," Juvia commented as a laughing Laxus nodded, as he paused to take a sip of his soda.

"Hey! Whose side are you on anyway?" Jellal responded, as his eyes widened slightly in amusement at Juvia's comment as she began to laugh in response.

"Give it up Jel, you lost," Levy commented, giggling as she handed him a bottle of water.

"By the way, speaking of the stripper, why aren't you stalking him?' Gajeel questioned, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow at his cousin as the laughter seized and all eyes rested on Juvia waiting for her response.

"Good point," Jellal mumbled as he began to twist the bottle cap open while his eyes were fixed on the blue-haired girl seated in front of him.

"Well, the thing is that he's apparently with Aquarius and she won't let Juvia in unless Juvia is a part of the boys swim team," Juvia mumbled looking away slightly as laughter erupted among the boys and Levy again.

"Oh my gosh, you guys remember the time Juvia tried to join the boys swim team and almost got suspended?" Levy questioned giggling as Laxus and Gajeel began to laugh harder causing Juvia to attempt to defend herself as she laughed at the memories.

"Juvia was justified in doing so alright. Do you know how many sluts are there on the swim team who love him?" she responded, her eyes instantly filled with an all too familiar jealous rage.

"Isn't he on the **boys** swim team?" Jellal slowly asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow as he began to drink the contents of the bottle.

"What's your point?" Juvia questioned with a blank stare directed at Jellal before turning to face Laxus.

"Well, the boys swim team wouldn't have females now would they?" Laxus elaborated as Levy nodded with an amused grin.

"Juvia must tell you all that there are several specimens of the male species who find Gray-sama incredibly hot and therefore, Juvia cannot afford to spend a second away from Gray-sama or else those sluts will win, Juvia explained enthusiastically, clenching her palm into a tight fist as the same jealous rage filled her once again.

The others however simply glanced at each other confused and amused by their blue-haired friend's rather extreme declaration of love.

"How isn't that stalking?" Gajeel questioned bluntly as Juvia rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"Because stalking is when you follow someone constantly **without** their permission," she explained carelessly.

"And this is different how?" Jellal asked dryly, causing Juvia to turn to address him.

"Because Gray-sama loves me but he just doesn't know it yet," she bluntly stated.

"Damn, I'm glad you don't have a thing for me," Laxus muttered causing Juvia's eyes to narrow into a sharp glare clearly directed for him.


	4. Chapter 4

It was awkward.

Both the 'new girls' as they had been branded, never spoke to any other student. Of course, it was because they didn't want to socialize with them but to the others, it came off as stuck up. It was amusing at first but it very soon became a real annoyance. Unfortunately, their classes were not in the same classroom and they had to move around quite often. To keep suspicions low, both the girls had separated and took different classes, although the majority of their classes were the same. As a result of this, they really didn't bother speaking to others, not even if it was to ask something as mundane as directions.

This was not because they looked down on them- maybe a little. The students here were children of important people across the globe, not only Ishgar and that was a fact both the girls knew all too well. However, it was these kinds of people that sickened Erza the most. She knew them and all of them were the same- they exploited the weak to grow stronger and richer. While they drank their expensive wines from crystal glasses, children had their innocence and childhoods robbed from them in order to produce that wine. Men lost their limbs and their sanity producing those glasses and their wives lost their optimism. Those people lived in deplorable conditions with little money to survive on. Their children died of diseases or in some cases, they killed their own children in order to survive and spare them the horrors of a desperate life. Those people ate mud, roots and anything that looked like it could provide them a little warmth and energy and they wore torn rags that couldn't possibly be classified as clothes. Those people died and not a single tear was shed. But when a rich man died, the country cried. It was this kind of injustice that Erza despised more than anything. The rich laughed and bathed in gold while the poor fought to survive.

Ironically, she had found herself surrounded by such people. She found the entire setting uncomfortable. Her uniform was stifling to her as were the people around her. She had been surrounded by stupid intellect-deficient humans who spoke of nothing but clothes, food and their conquests of the opposite sex. The boys laughed about the video games they played, the sports they claimed to excel at and the women they had degraded by dating or sleeping with and the women did the same but with shopping, make up and idle gossip. It was inhuman. She could feel her brain cells dying one by one. Their high-pitched voices, their suffocating perfumes, their faces buried with makeup- it was stifling.

It was safe to say that Erza Scarlet was not used to this setting. Even her subjects seemed to annoy her. For a woman who survived from the fringes of society, she found it a little offensive that all the history books only spoke of the wars waged with external forces and skimmed over the deplorable conditions that their own citizens had inherited generation after generation. Moreover, she did not understand the concept of several things such as professing one's love for another human being through poetry and literature. But seriously baffled her was the fact that she seemed to be stuck with the spineless makeup clad squealing androids who fawned over a singular entity- a blue haired boy.

It was not that she did not have crushes because she had momentary lapses of judgment and had been attracted to certain people for a few brief hours. But she had always maintained her composure around them. She treated them with the human respect they deserved, even if not all of them were quite entitled to it and she never treated them as a piece of meat as the girls crowding around the blue-haired boy did. Erza to say the least was therefore disgusted. She was disgusted with the behavior of the girls and more so with the boy who seemed to be their center of attention. How could he enjoy this? What kind of human being enjoyed such a situation anyway? Was he not leading them on cruelly if he allowed them to behave like this?

It was nauseating.

She had spent the whole day with this group. Sometimes the girls would increase in number due to the presence of other males but at those points, Erza had the privilege to be in the refreshing company of Mira who was just as disgusted and shocked as she was. But unlike Mira, Erza had never actually been to a school before. All her life, she had been taught either by her grandfather or by other people who had taken pity on her. She had never been formally educated before and most her knowledge about her country and life came from personal experience. As a result of this, she was utterly lost all day in every one of her subjects. She could not understand the abstract concepts behind such strange education. They would speak about understanding the economy but if they studied it in such great detail, why was no one able to do something concrete for all the people that were still suffering?

She simply was unable to understand. So far, the only subject she had truly enjoyed had been sports. Sports were a mandatory subject at Magnolia Academy who encouraged their students to live a healthy lifestyle by making sports compulsory for an hour every day. For that one hour, students were free to pick up any sport they wanted to pursue from a wide range of sports offered. If the student was still interested, after-school clubs were dedicated to specific sports. Erza genuinely did like the concept of this and therefore, was more than ready to actually participate.

However, this too was ruined because in order not to draw attention to themselves, neither her or Mira were able to participate in the various martial arts offered. Instead, both had gotten stuck with football. It was not a bad sport as such but she didn't understand why an entire sport was dedicated to kicking a ball. It seemed like such a waste of time. Moreover, the rules made no sense to her either. When she tried to kick it, apparently, she was told that she was only supposed to aim for a net-like structure with another player guarding it so that the ball would not enter. She was not allowed to kick it too hard, nor was she allowed to kick it from any proximity. She was forbidden to use her arms and physical contact with other players was not allowed. These were simply a few of the rules and so far, as with the rest of the day, Erza was confused once again. Therefore, she chose to sit down and watch the others play.

Mira on the other hand, was brilliant. She was much faster than the others and seemed to have no problem in stealing the ball from the other players. She glided through the field and almost effortlessly scored. It was almost as if this sport came naturally to her. While the others were shocked and surprised, Erza really wasn't. She had seen her do this with several other sports- Basketball, Tennis- Badminton- it was almost as if these sports were second nature to her. From what Erza could recall, it was because of what she had learned as a child. Of course, Erza never explicitly asked her about her childhood, but she knew that it was not the most pleasant time of her life and therefore, had respected her only friend's wishes by not prying.

But still, Mira was brilliant of the field. She could see several students praising her and whispering about her "mad skills" as a passerby had phrased it and soon enough, she had become the celebrity of the freshly mowed grass field. So much for keeping a low profile, Erza thought to herself dryly as her thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar male voice.

"You're friend's good. She's got natural talent," she heard the voice say and as she turned to face the owner, she found it to be the same blue-haired boy that had the airheads fussing over him the whole day.

Almost instantly, she felt disgust and irritation overwhelming her body but restrained her face from showing any signs of her apparent feelings towards him.

"I know," she responded briskly, turning back to the field.

"Has she considered joining the football club?" he questioned again.

"No, and she won't," Erza responded bluntly without turning to face the boy again.

"Why not? I'm sure that the team could use someone like her," he replied smoothly, further irritating Erza.

"I'm sure they could too but this isn't her scene," Erza replied in the same fashion.

"Really?" he questioned, his voice calm and steady as he paused for a moment before continuing.

"What is her scene then?" he spoke again and this time, Erza snapped and turned to face him with a blank expression.

"Ask her not me," she responded bluntly with mild undertones of harshness.

Was he blind? Did he not pick up on the fact that she had no intention of interacting with people such as him? This boy seemed to be oddly infatuated with Mira, yet he spoke to her. It annoyed and confused her at the same time- if he was curious, he should ask the subject, not the subject's friend. Moreover, the fact that he was here would attract significant attention and would cause his band of loyal airheads to appear and right now, she had no patience left to deal with them.

"I would, but I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't tell me," he responded unfazed.

"And you thought I would?" she questioned, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow as her eyes remained fixed on him, awaiting a response.

"Not particularly," he admitted as he turned to face the field with a smile across his lips, waving back to people.

"Then why are you speaking to me?" she questioned again, confused this time.

"Because I wanted to do so," he admitted as his attention flickered to her once again.

"Why?" she questioned, slightly irritated with his presence and attitude.

"Because you're in all my classes and you're a new student-" he began as Erza sharply cut him off.

"So? What are you, some kind of welcoming committee?" she asked, undertones of harshness evident in her voice.

"Something like that I guess. I'm Jellal Fernandez- the Student Council President and it's my job to make sure every student is satisfied," he replied proudly, flashing her a bright smile and almost instantly, Erza scowled in return.

"So basically, you want me to vote for you for something and now you're campaigning? Yeah, not happening in a million years so you better give up now. We maybe new here but we're not ibices. We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves so skip along to your airheads and don't make my day worse than it already has been," Erza stated harshly as she abruptly stood up and walked away before he had a chance to respond.

Unknown to her, Jellal watched her figure retreat. His smile faded away leaving a rare blank expression across his face. His eyes had lit up in malicious amusement at her reaction. This wasn't one of the typical 'harder to get' plays. She was genuinely disgusted with him and he was intrigued and amused by that. He was not interested in conquering her and making her his girlfriend because of her reaction. He did not want to parade her around like a sick trophy. She did not awaken feelings of guilt and regret in him. He did not long for an ideal love. He was intrigued because this was the first time anyone outside his closest friends had ever seen through his deceptions. Even Laxus and Gajeel had taken a few days, yet she took a few minutes. He was amused and he was intrigued because finally, he had a new toy to play with.

Fiore was so terribly boring as compared to his homeland. Yet, he was forced to stay here and pretend to be the ideal poster boy for hard work and achievement. But now, he had something to look forward to- a new scarlet haired toy.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's 'take over'," Gajeel's voice lazily echoed through the empty boys' locker room as he leaned against one of the metal lockers, his eyes fixed on the football field outside where a silver haired girl was doing particularly well against the so-called regulars of his football ream.

He was not interested in how his teammates performed. He was interested in the girl who seemed to be defeating them effortlessly. Of course, he knew that better players did exist but the way she moved- that agility, that technique- it had to be take over.

"Are you sure?" Laxus questioned, his eyes fixed on the field as well, leaning against the window.

"100% sure, I was in Phantom Lord remember," Gajeel responded in the same tone.

He knew of Take Over but like everyone else, he had no idea what it was. It was said to be a strange technique involving a combination of martial arts that was taught only by a specific organization that called themselves the 'Shadow Hunters'. They were not a criminal gang, nor were they a governmental organization. They were an independent organization that pretty much did what it wanted to do. It comprised of everything from assassins, to hackers, to analysts and each member was an absolute expert. When it came to the underworld scene, there was one group that dominated everything and that was Tartaros. Phantom Lord was next in line, followed by Oracion Seis and other gangs and in their world, the Shadow Hunters were well known. However, even within the Shadow Hunters, only a specific number of people were taught Take Over and if she was one of them, it meant that the Shadow Hunters were had assigned her here for a specific reason.

"I know, but why would someone of that calibre come here? I mean, you aren't with Phantom Lord anymore and I doubt that the Shadow Hunters would give a shit about our side business," Laxus responded, his tone slightly lower as he observed her.

"I don't know man. If I did, I don't think we'd be having this conversation in the first place," Gajeel replied in the same manner.

"Besides, I don't think the Shadow Hunters are interested in what we're doing, I think they are interested in us," Gajeel added bluntly, causing Laxus to straighten up and turn to face him with a questioning look.

"I was pretty high up in Phantom Lord, as was Juvia and you're the grandson of-" Gajeel began as started to explain his words but stopped instantly as Laxus' calm expression twisted into one of overwhelmed rage as punched one of the metal lockers leaving a visible dent.

That was absolutely correct. Gajeel had clawed his way into becoming one of the 'elite' members of Phantom Lord- a Part of the 'Elements 4'- a group consisting of the 4 strongest members of Phantom Lord. They were elite reinforcement in a way that if anyone dared to disrupt the internal peace of Phantom Lord through territorial wars or rebellion, one of the members of the Elements4 would step in and would diffuse the situation. Of course, all members had different ways of dealing with situations. Gajeel was the assassination type- quick and effective methods to kill the target. He was renowned for it of course. However, in certain situations, he did quite enjoy torture, although he kept away from it branding it to be a waste of time and energy. His base was in iron and steel based weaponry and when it came to inflicting torture, he was known to perform several forms of high-level medieval torture. As a result of this, his reputation within the gang and the underworld was not trivial, earning him the title of "Black Steel".

Juvia on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She enjoyed torture, especially those to do with water earning her the name of the "Rain Woman". She was a highly trained operative and the only one who had reached the level of the Elements4 within a year of her joining- something absolutely unheard of before. She liked torture and hated assassinations and as a result of that, Gajeel and Juvia made the ideal team. After all, their team had the best track record in Phantom Lord making both of them highly feared within the circles of the underworld.

Laxus, unlike Gajeel and Juvia was not a formal member of an underground gang. Of course, he couldn't be with the overwhelming influence of his grandfather- Makarov Dreyer who at one point was considered to be one of the most influential ministers in Fiore. Even though he was an old man now, Makarov possessed tremendous influence and therefore, his grandson would be too high profile if he formally joined a gang. This was especially because his father, Ivan Dreyer had done the exact same thing. Of course, he was not a part of any influential gang and became the leader of the relatively small and selective Raven Tail, it was till a huge scandal. It was because of this that Laxus had a much harsher upbringing, with his grandfather always watching his actions and teaching him a high level of a varied combination of different martial arts from Kendo to kung fu. As a result of this, Laxus often helped certain gangs, mostly Phantom Lord with their operations and although he was not formally trained, he was still overwhelmingly strong. It was because of this association that Laxus became fairly well acquainted with Gajeel and Juvia and was often considered to be the 'shadow member' of the Elements4. Like Gajeel who preferred iron and metal based weaponry and techniques, Laxus found his base in electricity. For some reason, he was always so enamoured by it and was considered to be a bit of an expert in techniques involving electricity. As for his weaponry, he preferred his bare hands or high-powered Taser guns, earning him the code name of the "Lightening God" and really, it was well deserved.

"Hey dumbass, what do you think you're doing? You want the world to know about us then scream it from the roofs. Don't leave such obvious evidence," Gajeel snapped at him, anger evident in his tone.

Laxus had no control over his rage or any of his emotions really. His only saving grace was his expressionless demeanour, which was often broken by his lack of control over his emotions leading to incidents such as him punching lockers. Most of the time, the trigger was his childhood or his particularly strained relationship with his grandfather. While Ivan Dreyer was a well-regarded criminal and an abusive father to Laxus, as a young child Laxus still looked up to him unconditionally. Unable to witness such a situation, Makarov accepted to be a witness against Ivan in a highly publicized trial which lead to his eventual life imprisonment. At this point, Makarov was given full custody of his grandson who was unable to understand his grandfather's motives and was consumed in anger directed towards him. This prompted Laxus to do exactly what his grandfather strongly disapproved off, one of which happened to be working with the underground gangs.

Gajeel observed Laxus for a few minutes before he continued. His breathing had calmed down, his eyes were clenched shut and his fists were clenched tightly into fists. When his body finally began to relax, Gajeel continued.

"As I was saying, you are the grandson of the old man and everyone knows that you're not exactly tight with him. Your dad is a well-known criminal and like I said, everyone knows that you're not on the best terms with your grandfather anymore. Besides, you've worked with Phantom Lord on several occasions and as for Jel, Pengrande isn't the best ally of Fiore and it never was," Gajeel finished as Laxus shot him yet another questioning glance.

"That's for the police to give a shit about, not the Shadow Hunters," he bluntly stated.

"They are after something and Jelall's 'socialize with the enemy' strategy is going to get us nowhere," he added in the same tone as Gajeel nodded in absolute agreement.

"So what's the plan?" he questioned, undercurrents of curiosity evident in his voice.

"We target the girl," Laxus replied calmly as a dangerously amused smirk appeared across his face.

However, Gajeel simply rolled his eyes. Now he knew where this was going. Laxus was going to kill two birds with one stone- he was going to interrogate her to find our her true objective and he was going to crush her self-respect by making her another one of his loyal airheads because she was female.

"Dumbass, she doesn't look the type to fall for you so quick," he bluntly stated.

"I know that. She isn't the type to fall for anyone quickly so I'm going to use another method. We get her, force her to talk and use her to get to the Shadow Hunters," he bluntly stated, the dangerous glint in his eyes shining visibly now.

"And if we're wrong?" Gajeel asked calmly, though he clearly was sold by the idea.

"Then it's all good right? If she isn't guilty, she'll sing and if she is, she'll sink," he responded with a careless amusement as he began to walk towards the door of the boy's locker room upon seeing Mirajane's figure starting to walk off from the football field.


	6. Chapter 6

Mirajane had never anticipated that the students would be this bad.

Of course, she knew that every school had its worth of annoying students but Magnolia Academy seemed to be filled with them for some strange reason. Since the minute they entered their classroom, people's eyes had been fixed on them and Mirajane was uncomfortable. After all, her experiences with too much forward attention did not go down so well for her. This was a similar situation.

During sports, both Mira and Erza had opted for football, assuming that against such a reputable team both of them could remain invisible by being mediocre. However, things did not go as she anticipated. Erza was well, horrid to say the least. She had absolutely no hand-eye coordination and almost always kicked the ball too hard and at the wrong aim. When she didn't do so, she argued about the rules, claiming that football was a stupid sport. She often snapped at the others on the field and as a result of it, people visibly avoided her. Therefore, when she finally chose to sit down on the benches, the atmosphere of the field improved instantly.

As for Mira, she was unexpectedly great. She had always been like that- athletic. It was for that very reason that she was so good at martial arts. But above all of this, Mirajane had grown up playing these sports. While she did not mention her childhood, most people assumed that she had simply forgotten it. However, she never did- not that she could anyway. Her childhood was not filled with Barbie dolls and chocolates but had an unprecedented amount of violence and horror. As a result of this, she had mentally become an adult with serious trust issues while she was still biologically a child. Nevertheless, she did have a select amount of pleasant memories and most of them were based on playing similar sports in her hometown with her siblings, who for all purposes were deceased.

Oddly enough, Erza was brilliant at anything to do with war. While she was clumsy on the field of sports, if she was expected to defend herself, Erza would instantly transform into a seasoned warrior knight- an undefeatable one. As a result of this, both girls had tremendous respect for each other's abilities and had complete faith in their respective strengths. Mirajane, while she was brilliantly strong and had masterful technique, she was accepted to be slightly weaker than Erza. Of course, not that it mattered to anyone else considering both of them always did overwhelm any enemy; it was their own personal way to keep a track of their own power. Regardless of being slightly weaker, Mirajane was a brilliant tactician and strategists. Of course, Erza was exceptional at this field as well but Mirajane had felt that she had always been a little too emotional. Even if she seemed to be calm and collected to the rest of the world, Erza was easily swayed by her emotions often making her intentions clear to the enemy. Again, considering that she would overwhelm them effortlessly this made no difference. However, for the cool and collected Mirajane who never gave any inclination of unwanted emotion, this was a great disadvantage. Therefore, Mirajane had been widely accepted as the superior tactician and took great pride in her flawless strategies. After all, she had every reason to feel this way- so far, not one of her strategies had failed and she didn't plan to tarnish her record any time soon either.

Since she was born, Mirajane could recall her father repeatedly telling her to conceal her thoughts and emotions even if she was on the brink of death. She was therefore seasoned and taught the art of concealment to the point that her own parents were unable to understand their oldest daughter's emotional and mental feelings, making them exceptionally proud. This caused her to willingly distance herself from other children of her age and distance herself from her own family, whom she considered to be a weakness. As a result of this, when she did join the Shadow Hunters, she was widely renowned for her consistent emotional façade of a polite, nurturing and warm individual rather than the sadistic killer she really was. Of course, she was the later with the people she truly cherished, such as Erza but even that bond had taken years to forge.

As she walked off the field, Mirajane had noticed that Erza was nowhere to be seen. Of course, she knew that her scarlet-haired friend was more than capable to handle herself and therefore, Mirajane did not bother frantically looking for her as a supposedly childhood friend would have done in such a situation. Instead, she calmly made her way towards the girl's locker room only to be passed by a group of hyper-active giggling cheerleaders, much to her annoyance.

"I can't wait for basketball practice!" one of them squealed in delight as the others giggled excitedly.

"Me too! Laxus is so hot!" the other one stated in a deafeningly shrill tone, forcing Mirrajane not to visibly cringe.

"Oh he's so perfect and that whole rock-and-roll bad boy persona is to die for!" another one chimed, prompting the excited giggles again.

"Gajeel has his bad-boy persona on point as well!" another one shrieked

"He's so hot!" others chimed as they walked collectively to the football field, shrieking and giggling in excitement.

Disgusting, Mirajane thought to herself in silence as she resumed walking towards the girl's locker room again.

Gajeel Redfox and Laxus Dreyer were well known to her. Of course, she had read the case files and done her research about them but she knew of 'Black Steel' and the 'Lightening God' well enough. After all, most of the underworld had heard of the infamous members of Phantom Lord. Therefore, she knew that she had to keep her guard up. Both of them had not clawed their way to the top just by looking pretty. She knew that they were potential threats. If anything, Mirajane expected them to be psychoanalyzing her just the way she had been analysing them at this very moment and for that reason, when she caught a glimpse of a familiar muscular blonde turning his back to the window from what she assumed was the boy's locker room, Mirajane knew that they were watching her and the silver-haired woman found this extremely amusing.

When Mirajane was not physically fighting, she was coming up with her infamously successful strategies. Just how Erza never missed a target, Mirajane had never had a strategy fail her purposes. The secret to this was simple- surveillance. She would often stalk her targets weeks before in addition to using her highly capable information network to learn their background history and personality traits. Therefore, she was able to learn all their habits and quirks before actually devising a strategy. It was for this reason that her strategies never failed- they were tailor made to suit different targets. In order to do so, Mirajane could not afford to be seen walking around in plain sight. However, she felt that hiding deliberately attracted too much attention. Therefore, she preferred hiding in plain sight- becoming absolutely invisible and that meant to blend into the background. That was what a successful operative would do and she was clearly one of the superior ones. After all, this was her hobby.

So far, there was only one individual who was better than Mirajane in this game and that was Juvia Lockster- the Rain Woman. Mirajane had accepted that fact a long time ago and she wasn't competitive enough to confront her about it. Regardless of this, it amused her that Laxus and Gajeel were attempting to play her game. After all, they were innocent armatures in this game, while she was a seasoned veteran. But since they wanted to play, who was she to deny them that right? After all, a little amusement during work was never a bad thing was it?

Therefore, she quickly slipped into the girl's locker room and changed swiftly before calmly leaving and walking back to her class room. From what she recalled, the lunch break would be soon enough and she assumed that Erza would have quite a bit to speak about. After all, Mirajane had a lot to tell her scarlet-haired partner as well.

Rule number one of surveillance- never let your target out of your sight, she thought to herself as she surprised an amused smirk at their failed attempt in surveillance.

Oh let the games begin, she thought to herself silently, her sapphire blue eyes lighting up with a sinister amusement- that same sadistic sense of humour she was so widely known for.


	7. Chapter 7

Levy considered herself to be the eternal optimist. As long as she had her books, everything was okay. Books were the fantasy world where she could hide after all. However, today was a bad day, especially for her.

The day had begun like any other day. She woke up early, finished her homework, got ready and flipped through the newspaper while having breakfast. It was a bit of a tradition really. She would often tutor Gajeel in the evenings and she went to bed early in order to wake up to finish her homework. Therefore, she really had no time to herself, like other girls of her age. But she didn't mind. Unlike them, she liked to read and she loved to learn. That was why she loved school.

This odd love of school, while it made her favorable with the teachers she had been targeted quite a bit during her middle school years by her peers. She was labeled as a 'nerd' and pretty much was excluded from her classmates. Again, she didn't really care because she had her books. They were an escape for her- a fantasy land where she could imagine being whoever she wanted to be. However, things started to change when she started high school. Principal Makarov had assigned her to be the tutor of the notorious Gajeel Redfox- one of the biggest bullies Magnolia Academy had ever seen.

Now, she knew of Gajeel. He was cruel- always picking fights, embarrassing people, and the list of course expanded. Moreover, he was suspected of having been a part of Phantom Lord along with his cousin Juvia. Therefore, it really wasn't the best way to begin a new school year. If she had been more social, she would have attempted to befriend him. But Levy was an introvert and she was perfectly fine with it. Therefore, she kept her distance from him and continued to live her own life. But, when Principal Makarov assigned her to tutor him, everything had changed. Apparently, everyone else he had approached had bluntly refused and he had hoped that Levy wouldn't. Not wanting to disappoint him, she accepted. After all, she had been in Magnolia Academy all her life and Principal Makarov was almost like a grandfather to her. How could she possibly refuse him?

Therefore, she had accepted grudgingly. Of course, things were not as perfect as a fairy tale. In fact, it was more like a nightmare. He would constantly insult her, belittle her, ignore her and at one point- well, that was just too dark. Nevertheless, like any cliché teenage story, he had seen her being bullied by a group of girls from her class and had rescued her, somewhat. At least that was what she would like to believe. According to him, he saw her and when she refused to answer him, he scared the girls off so that he could hear her answer. Either way, who was she to complain? Ever since that day, the girls completely stayed away from her and Gajeel began to be by her side more often. She had nothing to complain really.

Since that day, Gajeel had also made it a point to pick her up every morning and drop her back every evening, even though his house was on the outskirts of Magnolia- a completely different direction. Therefore, she really did appreciate it. What she did not appreciate was the rumors of her dating him. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with the idea- Gajeel was quite charming underneath the metal piercings and untamed hair. He really was a nice person, a little oblivious but she found it cute. So yes, Levy McGarden had a crush on Gajeel Redfox and it seemed like everyone but him knew of this.

But she wasn't going to tell him. Of course not she wasn't and it wasn't like she hadn't tried to do so before either. On countless occasions, she had attempted to tell him how she felt about him only for him to agree that he liked her as a friend as well. He just did not take her seriously and after a point, she stopped trying. According to Juvia, she just had to keep at it and profess her unconditional love for him every time she saw him. She had to devote herself to Gajeel and once he saw that, she would be rewarded by his acceptance of his love for her. After all, men were stupid and had to be enlightened by women, according to her. While Levy did agree with the latter, the first part was just a bit too forward for her. After all, Juvia was a stalker and everyone else except for her knew it- including Gray. Not wanting to take advice from someone like that, Levy prayed that she had friends to speak to about such things.

Running her fingers through her blue hair, Levy walked slightly hesitantly into the classroom. She had spent a good 10 minutes outside the door, contemplating whether she should enter or not. If only she was like the others, she thought to herself as she walked towards an empty desk. She might have been able to cut class, if only she was like the others. But she was Levy McGarden and she would cut class only if a meteor crashed into the surface of the earth. Either way, this was the only class she would even think of cutting. It was home economics and if there was one subject Levy was not good at, it was home economics. She could do anything but she just couldn't cook. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to follow the recipe and often had Gajeel cook for her- of course, that was a secret that she was sworn to take to the grave with her though.

The only reason she had taken this stupid class was because it was either this or an extended time of sports and she'd rather cook than be out on the field in scorching sunlight. This was why this day had taken a horrid turn. All her friends had opted for the first option and she was stuck here, in this unfamiliar classroom having to cook with Ares as the instructor. Now, Miss Ares was a nice person- she was shy, timid and really adorable. She was the ideal woman in many ways- she was nurturing, kind and above all, she was excellent at things involving the home. She would sew her own clothes and often made her own cloth. It was something Levy had always been curious about- she always seemed to have the time to do it for some reason. Therefore, it was not surprising that she taught home economics and most people took the class just for her. After all, she was a kind examiner. As a result of this, the classroom was filled with people already- girls in their little groups laughing at something trivial, boys scattered into their own little groups doing the same.

The second Levy stepped in; she knew she was an outsider. Even if she had been in Magnolia Academy, she was an outsider. The faces were familiar to her but the people were not. This is why she hated home economics- without her friends, memories of her middle school years returned instantly. Now that she didn't have her book either, Levy felt oddly exposed and vulnerable. She was nervous and well, anxious. She was not one to accept such emotions but even she knew that the setting had an impact on her. After all, in a world of extroverts, an introvert like Levy could never fully fit in. At least that was what always seemed to happen in her case.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Levy closed her eyes momentarily to regain her composure. When she finally felt ready, she began to walk to an empty seat in the front and sat down quietly. When Ares did enter, the chatter in the room stopped as all eyes were on Ares. As she kept her books down on the table, she flashed the classroom a bright smile before she began to speak.

"Good morning my dear students," she began as her eyes wandered across the faces of her students.

"As you all know, we're going to start cooking today. Therefore, I'd like to split you all into groups of 3," she commented as a mixture of groans and cheers erupted across the classroom.

When they finally settled down, she continued to speak. Levy didn't bother hearing the other names as she forced herself to remain calm. The one thing she hated above all was group work. Almost always, she ended up having to do all the work herself and she definitely did not look forward to the prospect of having to spend more time with the people she didn't like. She didn't mind working with people she genuinely liked but so far, there were 4 of them and all of them out on the field. Why was her luck always so bad? This just wasn't fair.

At that point, Levy's thoughts were instantly interrupted as she heard Miss Ares call out her name and at that moment, she prayed that her teammates were people she somewhat liked.

"Levy McGarden, Erza Knightwalker and Mirajane Surge," Ares called out with a smile as whispers erupted across the classroom.

Oh this was great and for once, Levy wasn't being sarcastic. She was with the new girls. It could go either ways- they could be genuinely nice and Levy would have two new friends, or they could be like the others and absolutely nothing would change for Levy. Personally, she hoped for the first option. Erza and Mirajane didn't seem like the others. They always kept to themselves and so far, she had never once seen anyone of them endorse in mindless gossip as the others tended to do. Therefore, Levy sincerely prayed that she would get along with them.


	8. Chapter 8

Home economics was another word for Hell. To Erza, it made absolutely no sense. She hated the concept of the ideal woman- why must she stay at home and cook, clean and take care of the children? Was this still the ancient times? Women had their freedom to do whatever they liked and in such times, why on earth was such a subject offered? Of course she loved sweets, strawberry cake in particular. But that hardly meant that she would accept making it instead of buying it in a bakery did it? This was just not fair. On any other day, Erza would be on the field and she wouldn't touch this area of the school but since they had to "keep their heads low", she had to be here with Mirajane, who was an expert at all things to do with nurturing.

It was slightly creepy how Mirajane was so good at stuff like this. She was a brilliant chef and was extremely nurturing. Therefore, home economics was Mirajane's strongest subject and it clearly was Erza's weakest. After all, Erza's childhood hadn't been centered on how to cook and bake cakes- it was centered on how to survive. Therefore, on the battlefield Erza was known as 'Titana'- the indestructible Queen of the Fairies from Shakespere's Midsummer's Night's Dream. But take away her armor and her weapon and Erza was basically defenseless. Therefore, at this point, she stared at the empty bowl in front of her, glancing back and forth from three fresh eggs lying beside it as she attempted to figure out the best method to crack them.

To her relief though, the other girl who was assigned to be a part of their group was no better than her. She kept picking up the eggs in an attempt to crack them but always seemed to keep the eggs down instantly. She touched every other utensil and cooking equipment provided to her in order to get a good feel of it and understand how to use it. Then, there was Mirajane who had already made her perfectly glossy batter and was now adding flavoring agents such as chocolate and strawberries. At the sight of strawberries, Erza instantly turned to face her friend's cake as her eyes were glued on the chopped strawberries which were supposed to be added to the batter. This was her way of asserting dominance- no one was touching that strawberry cake.

Mirajane, noticing the lack of movement from the other two girls finally turned to face them. She had a somewhat amused expression as a sigh escaped her lips.

"You know, you guys have to actually use the ingredients right?" she questioned in a dry, sarcastic tone, sweetened by her signature polite smile.

Erza rolled her eyes in response and quickly turned to face her ingredients. She picked up an egg and glanced at Mirajane with a smug expression.

"Which is what I'm doing," she stated smugly as she attempted to gently tap the egg against the rim of the bowl, as Mirajane had done before.

The only problem was that it didn't quite work out that way. Instead, the egg had completely shattered against the bowl and the internal contents of the egg lay splattered across the counter and remainder of the shell lay scattered across the counter- in the bowl and between her fingers. She had tapped it too hard once again and that lead to her all-too familiar 'cooking rage' as Mirajane had put it.

"What? I did exactly what you did!" she stated, evidently outraged, prompting Mirajane to sigh silently in response.

"No you didn't. You rammed the egg against the bowl and I'm quite surprised that the bowl remained intact," she replied calmly before her eyes glanced over at the other girl- Levy was it?

Levy seemed to be absolutely oblivious to Erza's actions. Her eyes remained focused on her cooking counter as she hesitantly lifted an egg and slowly attempted to crack it against the rim of the bowl- as Erza had done seconds ago. Mirajane's eyes watched her carefully and after a few seconds, Erza turned to face her as well. She seemed to be so focused- it amused Mirajane a bit. After watching Levy for a little bit, Erza muttered a string of curses under her breath as she returned to crack another egg, making sure to be gentler with the egg.

Levy worked carefully and slowly. She had cracked the first egg perfectly, prompting her eyes to widen in shock a little following a bright grin to be placed across her lips. After all, this was the first time she had gotten it right. Had she not been in class, she would have done a little victory dance, but considering she was still in school, she refrained from doing so. Either way, if this cake turned out to be good, she might give some to Gajeel and the very thought of that caused her face to turn bright red. Curious, Mirajane raised a perfectly arched eyebrow as she watched the girl who was clearly in her own world. She worked silently, slowly and hesitantly- she had never gotten it right, Mirajane concluded silently as she glanced between Erza and her.

Every few minutes, Erza would loudly curse at the inanimate ingredients and objects on the counter before quietly returning to whats she was doing before. So far, she had cracked one egg into the bowl, the second one had been cracked mostly into the bowl- it was an improvement really, Mirajane thought to herself silently. But now the main part came- whisking the eggs and from Erza's past, she had a tendency to get seriously carried away with it. What she never could understand was that the same strength required on the battlefield was not the same strength required in cooking. If she understood that, she really wouldn't be that bad and just as Mirajane thought that, she heard a loud crack following a loud string of Erza's cursing- she had shattered the bowl while whisking eggs.

At that point, Levy happened to glance up and allowed a light giggle to escape her lips. However, the second she did so, she instantly stiffened and attempted to regain her composure desperately as she felt Erza's glare on her petite figure. But unlike the others, she was not scared. The people she hung out with on a daily basis were quite like this. Gajeel and Laxus were hardly known for their emotional composure and once Gray was insulted, Juvia did a 180 and piercing death glares shot out of her eyes. Jellal was really the only calm one besides Levy herself. However, she knew that when Jellal was angered, it would not be a sight that anyone would want to witness. Therefore, she was quite used to this situation and she might have laughed harder if she had been close to these girls. However, considering that she was not, Levy consciously attempted to regain her composure as they might take it as an insult.

However, that did not happen. Instead, Mirajane's lips curved into an amused smile as she watched Levy's reaction. It was quite unusual. Usually, people shrank away from Erza's infamous death glares, but she didn't and that meant that she was used to it. The notion of that was interesting in itself. Mirajane couldn't imagine who she would be spending time with on a daily basis to be this nonchalant about Erza's death glares with the exception of those three- Jellal Fernandez, Laxus Dreyer and Gajeel Redfox. No one else in the academy fit the bill except for them.

"You really should work on improving your skills. Even Levy is laughing at you," Mirajane commented dryly, attracting the attention of the petite blue-haired girl who instantly stiffened once again.

"Well, its cooking and you know damn well that this is not my scene and it won't be by a long shot. I don't even get the point of this anyway- if you have a profession who is more than willingly handling of this crap, why the hell should I bother with this? I could very easily be on the field, cutting through-"Erza began one of her infamous, 'this is the modern times and women should not be subject to such treatment' rants and knowing that it would not stop anytime soon, Mirajane quickly interjected.

"Yes, Yes… we all know that," she calmly responded as she glanced at the petite blue-haired girl sharing their counter.

"I don't think we have ever formally been introduced. I'm Mirajane Surge and this is Erza Knightwalker. It's lovely to meet you," Mirajane introduced with a polite smile and a warm tone, shocking Levy instantly.

Of course they were new and all of that but according to Levy, both Erza and Mirajane should not be speaking to her. Both of them were pretty and if they wanted to socialize, she guessed that they would be really popular among the student body. It was no inferiority complex, but Levy knew how things went down with pretty girls- they were never her friends because they liked her. They became her friends to befriend Laxus, Gajeel and Jellal. As a friend, Levy would never let them use her or them and therefore, she had her guard instantly turned up.

"I'm Levy McGarden," she formally announced, her 'stiff' composure as Gajeel had described, returning instantly.

"Great to meet you," Mirajane added kindly, with another smile in an attempt to soften her.

"I hope it will be likewise," she formally stated again and this time, Erza spoke.

"You're a better cook than you know," she bluntly stated as her eyes focused on Levy's side of the counter.

While the eggs had been whipped to perfection and the batter had been made, it was still slightly lumpy. Flour was all over the counter and various ingredients remained haphazardly around the bowl. While her batter looked nowhere close to Mirajane's perfectly glossy batter, at least she had been successful in making a batter. At this point, Levy didn't know how to react. She had expected more politeness out of Erza as all Mirajane had done was being polite to her.

There was nothing wrong with being polite but she knew a farce when she saw one. Jellal was painfully polite and the more time she spent with him, Levy suspected that his politeness was a façade for the world to see in order to conceal his true personality which would be a complete contrast to that. Since she had begun to suspect that, she could never trust a 'polite' person again, suspecting the same thing. Mirajane might or might not be doing the same thing, but so far, Levy had not been comfortable enough to speak to her without feeling guarded. Erza on the other hand, was blunt. She seemed like a person who would frankly state her intentions and at this point, Levy was unable to read both of them. If Mirajane was in fact pretending to be something she wasn't, Levy assumed that Erza would not be okay with such a thing due to her no-nonsense personality. Therefore, in an attempt to loosen up, she flashed both of them a small smile.

"Thanks, I practice at home sometimes," she replied sheepishly as an amused smile cracked across Erza's lips.

"Really? You must be a patient person," she replied slightly impressed as Levy let a nervous laugh escape her lips in response.

"Not really, I just have a friend who teaches me," she responded, making sure that she did not overemphasize the 'friend' in question.

Levy could imagine Gajeel's reaction if anyone else found out about his secret hobby of cooking. He was really good at it but even she had to admit- watching the notorious ex-bully making delicate deserts was a bit out of character. But it was one of the few reasons that attracted her to him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry guys, but this isn't that great of a chapter. I've had a lot of work with Uni recently, and yeah. So This is pretty much a filler chapter. Enjoy though :)**

A few days had passed since Erza and Mirajane had begun school and since they did, everything had changed. The delicate balance of popularity among students had evidently shifted. Naturally, this was no idealistic teenage drama where the two new girls had become the most popular entities in school. However, they undeniably did catch everyone's attention. Mirajane had suddenly become a very well-known figure, renowned for her athletic nature and her general intelligence across all subjects. She was fun, approachable and considered to be a friendly person- an idea that Erza found absolutely hilarious, considering the real Mirajane was the polar opposite of 'friendly and approachable'. Either way, today marked the end of the first semester- they were halfway through the academic year. While other schools had winter vacation, Magnolia Academy held its annual field trip.

The field trip was one of the biggest events of the year. Taking place in the winter break, it was a week-long vacation for students in an exotic destination. As Magnolia, like most of Fiore got colder due to winter, the field trip was usually in a warm place, mostly by the beach. This year was no exception- they were going to the south of Fiore and would spend a week by the beach. Girls were more than happy to go shopping for their new swim wear and were excited at the prospective of tanning in the warm sunlight. Boys on the other hand were excited to see the girls in their swim wear. The common denominator was that everyone was happy due to the prospect of warmth. But naturally, someone or the other would not be happy with the idea and that person was Gray Fullbuster. He had been born into the northern fringes of Fiore, always covered with ice. Therefore, he had a natural affinity towards the cold and warmer weathers annoyed him more than anything. But oddly enough, he was not alone in his annoyance towards warmer weather- Jellal Fernandez and Gajeel Redfox both intensely hated the heat.

The reason as to why Jelall and Gajeel hated the heat was simple- girls. When the weather was warm, girls became chirpy and bubbly, constantly clinging to them more than usual. In other words, they got more annoying. Gajeel of course, would openly snap at them and would walk off somewhere with Levy but Jellal being the polite person he was would entertain them to his fullest potential. However, both of them were thankful for one person in such times- Laxus Dreyer. Laxus loved the summers, heat, beaches and anything synonymous with that. In such situations, he would be allowed to have alcohol and girls would chase him clad in practically nothing. Who was he to complain?

At 9 am sharp, the trains would leave for Fiore's southernmost city- Cedar. As a result of this, the train station was filled with Magnolia students and teachers, excitedly giggling as they boarded their respective trains. The seating arrangement had been previously handed to the students during their classes. Earlier, students were allowed to sit with whoever they wanted. However, due to a series of scandals mostly involving Laxus and other unnamed girls and brawls with a few other boys, the teachers had decided to arrange the students themselves this year. This came as a great shock and disappointment to most students who had already planned to be inebriated or indulge in 'unlawful' acts during the 36 hour long train journey to amuse themselves.

As a result of this, Gajeel wound up sitting next to Levy and therefore, he was more than content. Due to his horrid motion sickness, he would not be conscious for most of the train journey and would be asleep of Levy's shoulder as she read one of her several books. Therefore, she couldn't really complain either as she had everything she wanted- Gajeel and her books. But the others were not so fortunate.

Juvia had been paired up with Cana Alberona- the infamous drunk of the school and Gildart's estranged daughter. While she and Cana got along fairly well most of the times, she would rather be seated beside Gray, who had found himself seated beside Wendy Marvell- a petite girl who was clearly in love with Jellal. What was worse was that Gray was in another cabin entirely and even though she had tried to argue with the teachers to be seated beside or close to him, Juvia had failed and as a result of that, she was moved to an entirely different cabin much to her evident dismay. Therefore, for the next 36 hours, she would either be asleep or she would be moaning about her tragic separation from Gray, prompting Cana to drink far more than usual.

As for Laxus, he had been alright with any female to be seated beside him. But what he hadn't expected that Mirajane was to be seated beside him. The reason for this was simple. Jellal, as the student council president was encouraged to pick his own seating partner and naturally, he had picked the scarlet-haired Erza. He had also been privileged to suggest the seating patterns for other students and had calmly suggested that Laxus should be seated with Mirajane, in the same cabin as him to prevent any other scandals. He had picked Laxus for this because of Gajeel's motion sickness. Knowing him, Gajeel would not be able to observe Mirajane and quite frankly, it would be a waste of time. Additionally, he knew that Levy and Gajeel were pretty much a packaged deal by now and while the black-haired football captain was completely oblivious to his situation with Levy, Jellal like most of the student body was not. It was only natural for him to pair them together. As much as he did like Juvia, Jellal was not the greatest fan of Gray Fullbuster. He liked Juvia and in Jellal's opinion, Juvia was a strong, independent and intelligent woman. She was a kind person and quite frankly, she didn't deserve to be treated the way Gray treated her. Jellal understood that she was quite delusional and was technically stalking him, but Gray was infamous with women for his playboy-ish tendencies and was second only to Laxus. Therefore, looking out for his friend, Jellal placed her with Cana and made sure she was as far as possible from Gray. After all, it would do her good.

However, he would be lying if he stated that he chose to sit beside Erza only for the purpose of surveillance. It was no doubt that he was interested in her. He was not interested in her for any romantic inclinations, or sexual for that matter of fact. He would not lie by saying that she was not attractive, but the reason as to why he was so interested in her was for another reason entirely. Erza was the first person who had bluntly seen through Jellal's deceptions, and he did consider himself to be quite the expert in that particular field. Yet, she had bluntly seen through his efforts in a matter of minutes. Since that day, she had avoided him like the plague and when she did see him, he received multiple death glares from her. It was safe to assume that the scarlet-haired woman was disgusted by him. Again, that was a first. In all his life, no woman had ever been disgusted by him. Of course there were women who were not attracted to him, but no woman or individual actually had ever been disgusted by him. He found it amusing. She was the one person he did not have to pretend around. While he would find it refreshing otherwise, he was forced to pretend around her. After all, Jellal knew who Erza really was and knew for a fact that she did not know his true identity. The aim of his objective was to keep it that way and he would fulfill it even if he had to give up his life for it.

Jellal was not interested in the underworld and its workings. He didn't care for money, power and status-all of that was worthless to him. After all, if he had wanted he could have all of it just by snapping his fingers. Yet, Jellal longed for fulfillment like everyone else on the planet. The reason for that was simple. As a child, Jellal had been locked away and had been expected to listen to every single person around him. He was told to behave a certain way and absolutely alienated himself from every other individual, especially those of his age group. Therefore, when he had the chance, Jellal had left his home country and had come to Fiore. He had bonded instantly with Laxus, who really had a similar ethic to his own. Eventually, he met Gajeel who had brought along Juvia and it was only natural that he would get along with them. Finally, he met Levy and really, who could ever have a problem with an intelligent woman who was not afraid to speak her mind?

Jellal respected these kinds of women, which is why he would never even consider dating his so-called 'fan club', who was just interested in quick popularity due to his status. It was also why he had such an evident problem with Juvia chasing Gray- she was a woman worthy of his respect, yet when she was around Gray she became someone entirely different. He did not appreciate this, nor did he appreciate the way Gray treated his friend. If he wasn't interested, he should just say so and perhaps Juvia would be able to move on to someone more deserving of her. But then again, Jellal would never admit this to her face- she would only be hurt and she really wouldn't listen to him anyway. He would simply waste his time and Jellal already knew that.

"Jellal?" he the familiar voice of Meredy interrupt his thoughts.

As he turned to face her, Jellal realized that he had been standing in the crowded station for almost half an hour now. As the student council president, he was expected to be at the station early in order to see if all the students had boarded the train properly.

"Yeah?" he questioned the vice-student council president and a polite smile.

"I think everyone is here, I checked through the cabins and everyone seems to be here," she stated, flashing him a bright smile.

"Great! I still think that we should wait for another 5 minutes so that no one gets left behind though," he replied in the same manner as she nodded in agreement.

"Well in that case, I'll go on to my seat," she replied with a smile as he nodded, his eyes fixed on skimming through the crowded station to find familiar faces who hadn't yet boarded the train.

In exactly 5 minutes, they would leave to their field trip and at that point, the real fun would begin. Phase two would officially be implemented.


	10. Chapter 10

This was the first time that either one of them had done something like this. They were not used to school trips, or school to begin with. However, unlike Erza, Mirajane had been to school. She didn't really enjoy the idea, but she had attended it and school trips were apparently fun. Naturally, nothing in her memory told her so. In her mind, school trips were painfully annoying and irritating, more so now because they were going to a beach.

Now, Mirajane had no problems with beaches. She actually liked beaches- she liked relaxing after all. She loved the calmness, the idea of sleeping all day without a care and most of all, she loved not taking care of anyone but herself. However, what she did not like was going to a beach with a bunch of overfed, spoiled brats. Earlier that week, the seating arangements demanded that she and Erza were to be seated in the same cabin. So, Mirajane was pleased, as was her scarlet-haired friend. But the good news was just that. Erza had to sit with none other than Jellal Fernandez himself while Mirajane was to bare Laxus Dreyer for 36 hours. Ordinarily, she would have been more than pleased- both of them had got the ideal chance to watch their enemies and most likely, Jellal had used his influence as the student council president to orchestrate this convenient setting. However, what followed was a horrible back-lash of well, annoyance.

Since the seating announcements had been disclosed, Mirajane had been getting quite a bit of misdirected hatred from self-proclaimed fan clubs ofLaxus. Naturally Erza was facing the same thing, but in Mirajane's case, she particularly had to deal with something called the 'Thunder God Tribe'. That was apparently the collection of 3 students who had devoted their lives to Laxus. It was led by someone called Freed and included Bickslow and Evergreen. All three of them went wherever Laxus went and only were not by his side when he was around Jellal or Gajeel. However, even then Mirajane had seen them lurking behind lockers and walls in order to maintain their proximity to them. It was an odd thing, and unfortunately their so called 'wrath' was annoying. Along with Laxus, Mirajane was monitored closely by them to determine if she had cast black magic on the teachers to earn her position besides Laxus. She dealt with glares from most of the female student population and almost instantly, rumors of her having a secret relationship with Laxus began to spread like wildfire across the school.

Mirajane had never actually cared if she was accepted by the students or not, but things got really out of hand when a bubbly blonde girl called Lucy had walked up to her to ask if she was dating Laxus. While Mirajane had promptly denied it, the rumors evolved with every second. As of now, she was allowed to sit beside Laxus either because she had bribed a Principal Makarov or because she was apparently pregnant with his child. Both of them were utterly false. It would have amused Mirajane on any other occasion but this was not one of them. Especially because while she was seated beside Laxus calmly, all she could hear was the annoying giggles and chattering of the excited and incredibly desperate girls, all complete with the Thunder God Tribe seated in close proximity to her. As she had predicted, Laxus enjoyed the attention and was very evidently flirting with the women, exciting them further. For the next 36 hours, she would have to bare such a headache.

However, her luck got slightly better when the train began to move and students were forced to sit down. Because of the past, students were not allowed to raise their voices in the train and were not allowed to move unless they had to use the bathrooms or something like that. As a result of this, Mirajane was finally able to calm down and collect her thoughts for a few brief seconds.

Truth be told, Laxus was just as happy as Mirajane was. He would never admit it, but the girls were quite annoying. He hated their high-pitched voices, especially their excited giggles along with their shrieks. He hated the fact that every single girl was buried under a thick coat of makeup and suffocated him with their cheap perfumes. But he would never admit either one of these things- he got to sleep with them after all. Now, due to his dissatisfactory behavior over the past few field trips, Laxus was constantly being watched by teachers and he was quite aware of that. In fact, he liked to kick things up a notch, just to see their reactions and in hopes that it would reach his grandfather- it was hilarious when the old man was mad. Unfortunately, he was strictly prohibited from doing any of those things this time because he was seated beside Mirajane- his target.

Recalling what Gajeel had said earlier, Laxus could not believe that someone like her was a part of the Shadow Hunters. Mirajane was slim, slightly below average height and most of all; she was polite to the point of death. So far, he had not had any inclinations of questionable behavior from her. Erza was a different story, but Laxus was certain that she had not done anything to capture their attention. However, he had to admit that he didn't quite understand why someone like her was so close to Erza in the first place. From what Levy had told them, Erza was violent, clumsy, short-tempered and apparently strong. Surprisingly, none of this showed up on the sports fields. Mirajane on the other hand, was graceful, gentle, calm, nurturing, approachable and intelligent and well, the polar opposite of Erza to put it in simple words. He would not expect such people to be friends unless they had a common motive. Therefore, Laxus assumed that Mirajane knew that she was being watched and therefore, made it a point to remain low-key. But if that was the case, Laxus was entitled to have some fun with this. After all, it was 36 hours of mind-numbing boredom.

"So you're Mirajane huh?" he questioned, flashing her, his signature smirk.

Upon hearing his voice, Mirajane glanced up from her book and almost instantly had to suppress the urge of rolling her eyes when she saw that smirk. He was so overconfident- it amused her.

"Yes, why may I ask?" she questioned calmly, flashing him a polite smile as she straighted her back and turned to face him.

"I was just curious, because you're new and stuff," he responded in the same tone as she flashed him the same polite smile.

"Oh well, then yes. I am Mirajane Surge. How about you?" she asked, surprising Laxus mildly.

"You don't know who I am?" he questioned, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, flashing her the same overconfident smirk as he awaited her response.

"I- I think I know who you are, but I'm not very good with names so I apologize if I get it wrong," she began, with the same polite smile as she pretended to think.

Of course she knew who he was. He was Laxus Dreyer-the biggest player of the school, the overconfident jerk. She knew of his reputation among the female population because of their constant giggling and screaming and was well aware that the boys treated him as a virtual God because of his 'conquests'. But Mirajane also knew that she stung his pride when she pretended not to know who he was and at that thought, she had to suppress the urge to smirk in victory.

"Its fine, go ahead," he encouraged as he leaned back in his seat in an attempt to get comfortable.

"Na- no, wait… Laxus Dreyer?" she questioned as her tone became slightly softer as she doubted herself over getting his identity right.

Upon hearing that, Laxus' smirk widened. Of course she'd know who he was. It would be impossible not to. He was Laxus Dreyer after all- it was impossible not to know him.

"That's correct," he began as her face brightened up momentarily as she pretended to be victorious over getting his identity correct.

Then he leaned towards her until his lips touched the shell of her ear. He could feel her body instantly stiffen and the thought of that made him smirk in amusement once again.

"And don't you forget it," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

He then returned to his original position and flashed her, the same overconfident smirk at her flustered reaction. Even if she was a part of the Shadow Hunters, he would have fun with her. After all, he was entitled to do so.

Mirajane was not that amused by it. In a normal situation, she would have slit his throat right open by now, but because she was supposed to be 'polite', she was unable to do so. Instead, she had to act like a flustered teenager whose crush gave her excessive attention. Therefore, she had to suppress the strong urges to clean her ear with sanitizer to get his breath off it. But at least she knew what his strategy was now- he was going to tease her. Unfortunately for him, Mirajane did not take anything lying down. If he wanted to play, she would play back. After all, there was no one better at deception than her and she wasn't giving up the title now.


	11. Chapter 11

Erza was nervous. Of course, she had been informed that she would be seated with none other than Jellal Fernandes- the arrogant student council president well in advance. But it didn't make the shock any better.

She had been nervous about this. This whole concept of field trips, she had heard about them but she had never been on one before. According to all the movies she had ever watched, they usually went to places in close by cities for education and relaxation. Therefore, she assumed that there was something educational about the beach city that she was not aware of. So far, all she had heard of was that the beaches were the best places to be- the water was cool and as this was not the peak season, very few tourists would be there. Therefore, it would not be very crowded. However, she had also been warned to stay away from the boys during the field trip as 'things' generally happened. Erza assumed that they were talking about sex, not that she cared. Unlike them, she could refuse people and she could take care of herself extremely well.

What she was however nervous about was the fact that since they were going outside Magnolia, they needed to stock up on their weaponry. Naturally, she couldn't carry her heavy-duty weapons- the ones that she felt the most comfortable with. Instead, she chose smaller weapons that could be easily concealed in the light, airy fabrics of beach clothes. These included small hand guns, daggers, bottles of poison- but that was more of Mira's thing than hers. Erza preferred blades and weaponry, whereas Mirajane preferred poisons. There was a time when they used to call her the 'poison princess' as she really was terrifyingly good with poisons. Hence, she was good with medicine.

Erza on the other hand, was good at battle. She dominated the field overwhelmingly and she knew it. She was not maternal, nor was she nurturing. Erza was a cold woman, but she accepted that. She had an innate sense of intelligence and was strategic, but when it came to actual acedemics, she was not very smart. She could not memorize things and had trouble understanding fundamental concepts. While it amused other people, it really didn't amuse her. The reason behind this was the fact that she had learned how to survive. She had witnessed and experienced concepts that could not be taught through the pages of a book. Therefore, her understanding of the world was fundamentally different. She really only understood it through battle. She was not sadistic, yet she was not harmless either. She killed when she had to do so- she did it to survive and unfortunately, on the battlefield, survival was the only norm. Therefore, on the battlefield, Erza was a fierce War Goddess but in reality, she was a socially awkward redhead.

Right now, she was the latter. She was sitting in the train, waiting for it to leave the station. She had wanted to sit beside Mira. She would feel more comfortable if she did that anyway. But she was not allowed to. Instead, she was seated beside Jellal Fernandez- the person she had intentionally avoided since their unpleasant encounter on the football field a few weeks ago.

The second that was announced, the school had turned into frenzy. Girls glared at her all day as she was treated with excessive coldness. Once again, Erza actually preferred that because people didn't ask her useless questions to annoy her. But it was awkward nonetheless. It was the same situation now. There was a petite girl who sat opposite her- she had long blue-ish hair and wide eyes. She wore a yellow dress and her hair was tied into two pigtails at either side of her head. She was short and she really did look like a child. However, that child was glaring daggers at her.

Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, she sent the girl a questioning look. The girl straightened up quickly and attempted to pretend as if nothing had happened. Well, Erza wouldn't forget it but it wasn't as if she would do something about it either. Therefore, she just let it slide once again.

When she finally felt the train move, her wonderful neighbor had arrived. As soon as he walked in, girls waved at him and giggled excitedly. The boys did the same, without the giggling. Either way, Erza felt a familiar dull pain in her temples as she massaged it with her fingers. She noticed that the girl opposite her suddenly sat up straight and had a bright smile across her face the second she saw Jellal. He simply greeted her politely, as he did with everyone.

Fake, she thought to herself in silence.

She knew people like that. The excessive politeness, the selflessness, the kindness- it was all just a farce. No one was that nice in reality. Those who claimed to be simply pretended to be for one reason or another and she knew for a fact that Jellal was one of those people. She didn't know why he did so and quite frankly, she didn't care either. The point was that he did behave like that and it annoyed her. He led people on constantly, making them believe that they had a chance with him. They were fooled by his smile and pretty words but they never noticed his eyes- those eyes were cold, bored and Erza swore that she had seen them light up only in context of violence. Whether there was a fight or the topic of violence came up, Jellal's eyes suddenly had life in them and that bothered her. He consciously concealed a very dark part of himself from the world.

"So, are you excited Wendy?" she heard him ask the girl opposite her who nodded vigorously as her face turned as red as a tomato.

"Y-Yes, I can't wait. W-what about you J-Jellal?" she questioned softly, her voice stuttering as she had her eyes fixed on him.

"Me? Well, I'm excited I suppose. I mean, I don't think that I can't be excited- I did plan this after all," he responded brightly, letting out a light peal of laughter that earned him a scowl from Erza.

Seeing that, he instantly turned to face her, questioning her about it, asking her if something was wrong or if he had said something to annoy her. She could feel Wendy's eyes glaring at her and all of a sudden, she felt every girl in that cabin glare at her the same way. But she didn't care. They meant nothing to her.

"Of course you did," she responded icily as he faced her with a confused expression, pretending as if he didn't know what was going on.

"I'm sorry, but am I missing something here?" he asked again in the same infuriatingly polite tone.

But this time, his eyes were filled with a cruel amusement- he was paying attention for once, he was playing and once again, no one had noticed.

"Don't pretend as if you have no idea about what is going on. You arranged it in such a way that I would be seated beside you," she accused coldly as she instantly felt the glares intensify around her and whispers among students erupted once again.

"Listen here you red-headed bitch, don't you dare say stuff like that. You're lucky that you get to sit beside Jellal a-"she heard some female voice begin as others chimed in to agree with her.

Now she was annoyed. Were they really that stupid that they couldn't see what was so bluntly obvious? He had planned it all.

"This doesn't concern you so go back to your happy oblivious land of unicorns, candy and glitter before I send you back there forcefully," she stated coldly without bothering to address the person responsible those words.

Once again, whispers erupted and all she saw was a mildly impressed Jellal. He knew this would happen. He was testing her and unfortunately, she had passed and for the next 36 hours, he would be beside her.

"You planned this," she hissed, whispering in his ear as she leaned towards him.

"So?" he questioned nonchalantly- he wouldn't deny that of course.

Every man got bored of his toys and he had just found a new one to entertain himself with. He wasn't letting go that easily. Besides, if he did, the girls might ease up on her. But what was the fun in that now? A little amusement was never a bad idea now was it? But Jellal had done well for himself today.

Wendy, he knew for a fact liked him and well, as usual Jellal couldn't care less. She looked like a child and her hair bothered him. But the reason she was important now was because she sat right opposite Erza and her eyes glared daggers at the scarlet-haired woman beside him. She really wasn't subtle, but neither was Erza. It was a situation that would escalate to a chaotic and Jellal had no problem being the catalyst in this situation.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the late updates you guys, I had a lot of stuff going on. Please review and leave comments!**

Almost half the train journey was completed when they were finally allowed to step off the train for a short break at one of the stations and to be completely honest, every single student on board exploited this advantage to the fullest. As soon as the train came to a halt, students sprang off their seats and hurried out of the doors, ignoring the voices of their teachers blatantly. After all, after such a lengthy journey, the train became claustrophobic.

From what Wendy observed, the natural social order was slowly returning amongst the students peppered across the platform of the station. She could see Natsu, Gray and Lucy standing in one corner, laughing away until Juvia latched herself onto Gray's arm. She saw a group of familiar faces speaking and giggling right beside them and such groups diffused with the crowded faces of the station. She was one of the few people who did not get off the train- she had everything she wanted anyway. Besides, she got her well-deserved 'alone time' the moment Gajeel stepped off the train with Jellal and Laxus anyway, she thought to herself as her attention reverted to the pages of the book that she held in her hands. After all, Gajeel would hardly let her read and would insist on forcing her to comfort his horrid motion sickness.

As for Gajeel, he had stepped off the train as soon as it came to a halt along with the others. The second he saw Laxus and Jellal though he made his way to them and escorted them to a relatively quiet part of the station. Therefore, at the present moment they found themselves in a small coffee shop. At the moment, there was not a single customer leaving themselves and the staff was the least bit interested in working at the shop. The cashier was nowhere to be found, leaving a single teenage attendant to manage the empty store. She examined her nails, speaking on the phone and would periodically check on the store through the kitchen window but would never physically be present. Therefore, this was the perfect spot.

"So, how's it going so far?" Gajeel questioned as he examined the curiously exhausted faces of his comrades.

"I do not understand this 'Mirajane' person- I made some of my best moves on her and she just shut me down as if I was an over attached toddler," Laxus began, surprising both Jellal and Gajeel.

After all, he was not the kind to speak first and when he did so, the occasion was rare. However, both expected much more from the conversation. At the moment, it sounded like a pre-pubescent teenage rant which only made the situation more amusing to them. Yet, they stayed silent in order to prompt him to continue.

"And it wasn't as if she had too much to be distracted with. We were on the same train, beside each other on the same seats for the last few hours and nothing. I got nothing from her. I didn't even get the slightest inclination of interest," he continued until Gajeel's amused smirk cut him off.

"So you're upset that she doesn't want to sleep with you?" he mocked, flashing his signature amused smirk.

"No- Not when you put it like that anyway," Laxus responded, rolling his eyes as he disregarded his metal-loving friend's snide comments.

"It does sound like that though," Jellal commented calmly, amusement evident in his eyes.

"Okay look, no woman has ever not wanted to sleep with me before. Not a single one," Laxus responded, rolling his eyes at their reactions as Gajeel simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I can safely say that neither Levy nor Juvia want to sleep with you," he commented dryly as Laxus rolled his eyes in response.

"I didn't mean them anyway. I meant like other women- like strangers," he explained as Gajeel simply shrugged his shoulders carelessly in response.

"Well then maybe you're losing your touch," Gajeel responded nonchalantly, earning himself one of Laxus' infamous glares. But naturally, he was absolutely immune to it.

"Anyway, getting back on track," Jellal began as both Gajeel and Laxus turned to face him.

"I do have to agree with Laxus on this one- it is odd. However, this is not because she does not want to get into bed with you right away, rather it is her reactions. From what I observed, she is too tightly wound up- both of them are," Jellal spoke, referring to Mirajane and Erza of course.

Laxus nodded in agreement to this. What he had meant was that her reactions were odd. Of course, his ego was a little bruised when she showed no inclination of sexual interest in him but he was far more interested in her reactions. Whenever Mirajane spoke, she was always polite. She smiled at everyone, thanking everyone and always did whatever they told her to do. She helped every single person who asked her for it without asking for anything in return. This was what would classify as a 'good' person but Laxus knew that it wasn't the case with Mirajane. Her politeness seemed forced and he found her kindness to be mocking. Whenever she helped someone, he could almost hear the sarcastic undertones of her compliments and the cruel amusement that was held captive behind that seemingly charming smile of hers. He did not know why no one else had noticed yet but the more he observed her, Laxus suspected that Mirajane had two distinct personalities- one she showed the world and one she concealed for herself. The only other person who did this was Jellal, Laxus thought to himself in silence.

"I agree. Every time I flirted with her, she responded innocently and I would have accepted that natural naivety with any other girl on the planet in an instant. However, in Mirajane's case I suspect that her personality is false," Laxus commented.

"As in?" Gajeel questioned, mildly interested now.

"She is the ideal woman- she helps people in need unconditionally, makes it a point to socialize with everyone around her, treats everyone fairy and makes sure that everyone knows of this. She makes herself the center of attention in a silent manner and makes sure that no one ever can question her motives. In short, she presents herself to be an innocent, naïve teenager who has the purest heart in the world. However, that is all false. I have significant reason to believe that she socializes so much in order to gain something- perhaps information. Or, she does this in order to widen her scope in order to keep tabs on a wider group of people. When she helps people, it is almost as if she mocks them for not being able to complete their tasks themselves and most of all, while everyone else believes that she treats them fairly, she mocks and belittles them- she patronizes them. In other words, she insults them without their knowledge. She deceives the world with her innocent smiles and so far, everyone here seems to have fallen for it," Laxus explained as Jellal nodded his head a little.

"and what evidence do you base all this speculation on?" he questioned.

"You of course," Laxus responded nonchalantly, surprising both Gajeel and Jellal a little- catching them completely off guard.

"Me?" Jellal echoed as Laxus nodded again.

"Yes. You do the same things- you deceive almost everyone around you into believing that you are the nicest guy on the planet. You deceive the entire school into believing that you are a responsible and dignified class president- the only true candidate for the post. But we all know that you're so much more than that. You're a sadist who enjoys torturing everything and anything you can find. Therefore, you set your own self-proclaimed 'fan girls' against one another for pure entertainment and often lead them on into believing that you hold special feelings for them. But in reality, you are only mildly amused by their antics. You encourage them to hold you in an almost obsessive light to such an extent that some actually begin to worship you as a divine figure. They forget all about their own lives and devote themselves completely to you. That Wendy girl is one of them and you purposely made her sit right in front of you so you could make her watch you interacting with Erza. You enjoy seeing their pathetic hearts shatter and that is why you are so obsessed with this Erza- she is the only one who has caught you out so quickly and you want to see just how different she is because of that. Unfortunately for her, the only way for you to do so is to tear her completely down. Everyone believes that you are some kind of ideal prince but in reality, you're the exact opposite," Laxus explained as a mildly amused smirk graced Jellal's lips.

Whatever he had said was absolutely right. He was a sadist who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. He did it with everyone and got great amusement from it. He only spared those who had earned the privilege to be spared in his eyes and all of them happened to be his friends- Gajeel, Laxus, Levy and Juvia. But even they became pawns to him when he needed them to be. As for Erza, she had always been different. He had known her long before this and ever since then she had never failed to captivate his attention. This time however, she would be at his mercy- he would have her on her knees begging him to spare her life. It was only then that he would truly be satisfied. Until then, he would continue to play with the pawns he had. He would continue to play his version of chess- the cruel, amusing version of chess he played all by himself.

"So you're saying that Mirajane is like him?" Gajeel questioned as Laxus nodded a little.

"Well, not exactly like me but I do accept the similarities," Jellal admitted.

"And those similarities are the ones that strike me to be particularly peculiar. You hide your true nature for a reason and if she is doing so, it's got to be for her mission or something. After all, she does practice Take Over. Therefore, she is not weak. I still can't make out what her relation is to Erza but I believe that if we separate them, the truth will be revealed on its own," Laxus explained as Gajeel nodded in agreement.

"I like that idea. You work on Mirajane, I'll take Erza," Jellal agreed, the smirk across his lips slowly widening as he anticipated the amusement of tearing Erza's personality to shreds.

"And I'll sleep on the train on Levy's shoulder," Gajeel interjected as a silent sigh escaped both Laxus and Jellal's lips.

Both boys instantly shared a brief understanding glance before returning their attention to their friend. At this point, everyone on the planet knew Levy liked Gajeel except for Gajeel himself. He was as oblivious as one of his metal studs. He just assumed that she behaved like that with everyone else in the school and failed to understand that she really did have eyes only for him. Both Jellal and Laxus really did like Levy- she was one of the few females they truly did respect. Therefore, they were pleased that she liked Gajeel and not one of the creeps who followed her around in the care moments of Gajeel's absence. Nevertheless, both had vowed not to interfere in their relationship as a sign of respect to both their friends and at times like this, upholding that vow was more than frustrating.

"But make sure to get her another book or something to show her that you appreciate her behavior towards you," Jellal suggested calmly as Gajeel simply shot him a questioning glance.

"But she already knows I do," he responded confused as another silent sigh escaped Laxus' lips.

"How does she know that? Did she read your mind perhaps?" Laxus asked dryly, rolling his eyes.

"No, she just does. She always knows what I'm thinking- it's kind of creepy at first but you get used to it eventually I guess," he explained, still extremely confused.

Once again, both Jellal and Laxus exchanged silent glances. He really was an oblivious idiot.


End file.
